Changing Config Settings for Virtual Machine - PD 4.0 Full Install

If I go to PD Config for My BootCamp, will that screw up my installation? I read somewhere that as soon as you select Config for your Virtual Machine, it messes things up. All I want to do is change the 512 MB RAM setting to 1024 MB RAM setting. But if doing that means the Hard Disk will get screwed up when I save, and that will mean reinstalling and reactivating the WindowsXP Virtual Machine, forget it.

Everything works now and I don't want to mess it up. 512 MB RAM will be enough if I can't change it without messing up my Virtual Machine.

Thanks.

 

Just reposting here, for any tourists! ;-)

Yes, there is a bug in the Configuration window in Parallels Desktop 4.0 for the Mac. I haven't seen it written up officially, but I've encountered it several times myself. You can open the Configuration window and do nothing and still create the bug. (if you click "Ok")

What happens is this: the path to the drive in the config.pvs file gets corrupted, overwritten with a different path. Then your virtual machine won't be able to find "Hard Drive 1".

Fixing that problem is pretty simple, for a nerd: Open /Users/<username>/Documents/Parallels/<machinename>.pvm/config.pvs with TextEdit and replace the value of the <SystemName> attribute of the <Hdd> element to the full path to your virtual drive (mine is /Users/douglas/Documents/Parallels/BootcampXP.pvm/Hitachi Blah Blah.hdd)). The correct path points to the .hdd file inside your .pvm file.

If you get hit by the bug, making that change may be intimidating. But if you make a safe copy of your config.pvs file, you should be okay. I would like it if someone on the Parallels team would write up a detailed guide to doing that, with screenshots. I don't have time right now. (Frankly, I'd rather they just fixed the bug and announced an update.)

SUMMARY: if you are concerned, and everything is working smoothly for you, you may be smart to wait for the next Parallels software update before fiddling with your Configuration settings.

 

Hi,

Thanks for that. What if I went in and just modified the memory value? Do you think I could do that.

 

Who knows?!

You could be fine.

But if you see the error, you'll at least know why it is...

 

Yeah, I see what you mean. For the time being, I'm not touching the Config Window.

Parallel needs to issue a fix, so people can modify their VMs without serious consequences.

Oh, speaking of which, when I downloaded the update, prior to installation, it downloaded. But when I went to check for another update, it said, You are not authorized for updates or something like that. Or there are no authorized updats at the moment. Anyway, it seemed as if I didn't qualify. Maybe it's 'cause there are no other updates.

I don't need to register to get updates, right? Just enter my serial number when I installed, correct?

 

Disk Utility and Cocktail

I assume that now that everything is working I can safely run Cocktail or Repair Permission, in OS X and nothing will go wrong with my PD VM Machine?

Sorry, but I'm nervous about this whole PD thing.

 

On the first part: I don't know. I was an upgrade, I entered my numbers and everything registered smoothly. I would be very surprised if there was another update yet, so probably you're just encountering that.

On the second part: I don't know. Obviously you SHOULD be able to fix permissions or perform any other healthy Macintosh action without scrambling your virtual machine's config. But with all the different bug threads in these forums, I'd make no promises!

As with most new products, I expect things to cool down in a month or two.

We early adopters always get to have the excitement. *grin*